This invention relates to an illumination and exposure system for an electrostatic type reproduction machine, and more particularly to an improved illumination and exposure system using continuous lamps.
Modern high speed electrostatic type copiers or reproduction machines may use flash lamps to illuminate, i.e. expose, the original being copied. Use of this type of lamp is one way of providing the necessary exposure speed for very high speed copying. In these arrangements, the entire original is illuminated by the flash lamps providing what is known to the art as full frame exposure.
Since the originals to be copied may be relatively large, and the entire area must be illuminated fully, flash lamps must generate intense light energy over the span of a few microseconds. To support such illumination intensity in turn requires a very large amount of electrical energy with attendant large, expensive, and relatively dangerous capacitance type power supply.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a full frame exposure system for electrostatic type reproduction machines with simplified power supply requirements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an exposure system wherein the optical path is displaced during imaging in timed relation to movement of the photoreceptor in an electrostatic reproduction machine to thereby permit timed (as distinguished from flash) illumination of the original without blurring using under powered flash lamps.
This invention relates to a reproduction machine for producing copies of an original, comprising in combination, a movable photosensitive member, means to charge the photosensitive member in preparation for imaging; an exposure station whereat the charged photosensitive member is exposed to a light image of the original; a platen for supporting the original; image means forming an optical path for transmitting a light image of the original on the platen to the exposure station and the photosensitive member to form a latent electrostatic image of the original on the member; illumination means adapted to illuminate the platen and the original thereon; optical path displacing means to displace the optical path conjointly and in synchronism with the photosensitive member and in substantial parallelism with the photosensitive member during the exposure thereof to the illuminated original; thereby to project a full frame exposure of the original onto the photosensitive member whereby to form the latent electrostatic image as aforesaid.
For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment, given in connection with the accompanying drawing.